Art of War; Sun Tzu

This military-based strategy is over 500 years old.  These warfare teachings have been adapted for politics, business, art, and everyday life.  We all can benefit from understanding our position from all conceivable angles, and develop proactive strategies for your own benefit, and those around you!

Becoming; Michelle Obama

This book is divided into three sections, “Becoming Me,” “Becoming Us,” and “Becoming More.”  Throughout the book, the First Lady emphasizes perseverance,  sacrifice, and the importance of owning one’s story.  An inspirational look at personal growth and service to others. 

Culture Code, The AND Talent Code, The; Daniel Coyle 

Daniel Coyle provides tools for educators who are ready to elevate the culture within their ensembles, classrooms, district, and communities.  He also gives a framework for better teaching and learning in our daily lives.  These are big, nuanced concepts that are presented in a clear and concise manner, with many real life examples.  Great resources for every professional.

Ego is the Enemy; Ryan Holiday

Ryan’s book series does a great job of packaging heavy, ancient concepts in ways that are relevant and tangible.  He provides honest and straight forward insights, and sites all of his resources for readers to follow as well.  This series is a great place to start on your journey towards serving and leading others. 

• The Obstacle Is The Way

• Stillness Is The Key

Good to Great; Jim Collins

A great resource for anyone committed to advancing themselves and their students. This is a deep dive into business leadership, which provides practices that can be applied to any arts program.  The statistics and data can be overwhelming at times, and some can be quick to dismiss the business practices as irrelevant in the classroom.  These business practices and concepts of identifying successful organizations can be applied to anyone working to advance their musical arts programs.

Leaders Eat Last AND Finding Your Why; Simon Sinek 

Along with one of the most popular TED talks of all time, Simon’s books provide  models for modern leadership, which include perspectives from  military, business, and the arts.  Simon has a lot of online lectures and interviews that are quality and worth exploring.  What his books offer are  more focussed case studies on specific topics that are beneficial to study.

Mindset; Carol L. Dwick

“Growth Mindset” is an educational buzz-word that has been growing in our culture and our education systems for a decade.  Dr. Carol Dwick has been championing the research, development, and application from the ground up.  If you are an educator and haven't cracked this one open, you are behind!   A great book-club at work for Act-48 credit…just saying. 

Onward; Howard Shultz

Shultz understands that coffee is a vehicle to something bigger, as is music!  He gives a first-hand account of recollecting his business and putting back together with a vision and dedication.  A business owner who walks the walk, leads by example, and is a model of passion, empathy, and innovation 

The Red Circle; Brandon Webb

This book breaks down, in vivid detail, the training of the Navy Seal Sniper Teams.  A true eye-opener on how to teach performance with excellence, precision and consistency under the highest level of stress. 

Servant, The: A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership; Hunter C. James

While it may be a bit dated, this book lays out that the foundation of leadership is servitude.  This is now a saturated idea in mainstream Leadership model, but this text provides a hands-on approach for anyone answering the call to leadership, or simply wants to lift up others around them.

Team of Rivals; and Leadership in Turbulent Times; Doris Kearns Goodwin

The Pulitzer Prize winning author and renowned presidential historian has given us a collective playbook of the greatest leaders in history.  Goodwin provides insight into the personal hardships, professional losses, and insurmountable obstacles leaders face. What an opportunity to learn from the  hard earned wisdom gained by these historic leaders.  Read immediately!

48 Laws of Power; James Jordan

Two things that you need to know:  One: this book is a long-time standard juggernaut in the business AND self-help genres.  Two: the table of contents is a valuable resource on its own and is worth scanning even if you don’t have an interest in reading cover to cover.  It’s that impressive.